Feedback

Hyperactive PR people at the US Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore put out 29 press releases last year about the Hubble Space Telescope.

Hubble triumph, it seems, has followed Hubble triumph. Hubble has seen black holes all over the place. Matter tumbling into black holes, jets bursting out of black holes and galaxies dominated by black holes are routine discoveries announced from the institute.

Remote things pop up regularly, too. The most distant galaxy, far-off quasar or gravitational lens is meat and drink to Hubble's public relations staff. Only last month, Hubble found the most distant cluster of galaxies and 'some suspected ancestors of today's galaxies'. All in all, thanks to Hubble, the frontiers of planetary science are rolling back week by week.

But hang on a minute. Feedback has a hunch that these announcements- which have been happily swallowed by much of the media-should be greeted with just ...

To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.

To continue reading this article, log in or subscribe to New Scientist

App + web

Web

Smartphone

Tablet

$25.99 - Save 65%

12 issues for $2.17 per issue

with continuous service

Print + web

Print

Web

$28.99 - Save 61%

12 issues for $2.42 per issue

with continuous service

Print + app + web

Print

Web

Smartphone

Tablet

$39.99 - Save 73%

12 issues for $3.33 per issue

with continuous service

Web

Web only

$49.99

30 day web pass

Prices may vary according to delivery country and associated local taxes.